Review: Coruscant Nights III

Book 3

by Michael Reaves.

And then it’s book three, Patterns of the Force. I just said that for Reaves, a lot of the time, it’s the force of the well-conceived, well-done first book that carries the second book along. Well, the third Coruscant Nights book gives us a little glimpse at why, maybe, Mr. Reaves should maybe stick to writing singles, and also, makes us all thankful there’s never been a MedStar III.

I really disliked Patterns of the Force, if you can’t tell. As it’s still about a Jedi private detective living in the Coruscant slums, there are some stereotype elements that carry the plot along, sort of, and some bits and pieces milked out of the first two books that aspire to fill in the gaps but really don’t any too much. I was completely bored by this entire book, and when I wasn’t bored, I was frustrated. It defies credulity to think that Vader and Jax would face off and then Jax just goes his merry way. Also, I don’t see what’s so important about Jax that Vader was so personally invested in his destruction anyway–and if Vader were so devoted, I don’t see how the guy could live. Reaves obviously has no compunction about popping characters, so why Jax lives is beyond me. There were too many things for my willful suspension of disbelief to be willful.

I know this is a really bad review, but I’m kind of running out of time, and here’s the thing . . . Being the third book, I read this one most recently, and I can’t remember anything about it to tell you. Looking at the plot summary, none of these generic elements are ringing any bells with me and I can only shrug and shake my head and say, ah, well, I liked the first two books. Nice cover art. All the plot summary gives me is that there are questions, Jax thinks I-5 has the answers, and Vader and Jax have a final confrontation. In all, a sad and boring conclusion to a haphazard series I, for the most part, thoroughly enjoyed.